The Toronto Blue Jays will begin their final road trip of the season when they take on the Rays in Tampa Bay on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.

Toronto salvaged the final game of a three-game series with the Texas Rangers, 4-0, on Thursday afternoon, thanks to a two-homer performance from slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a fine pitching performance from Kevin Gausman.

Tampa took two of three games from the Boston Red Sox earlier this week.

Let’s dive into the game odds for Friday’s series opener between the Blue Jays and Rays courtesy of bet365:

Blue Jays vs. Rays odds

Blue Jays Moneyline Odds	-110
Rays Moneyline Odds	-110
Runline Odds	Rays -1.5 (+185), Blue Jays +1.5 (-225)
Over/Under	Over 7.5 runs (-115), Under 7.5 runs (-105)
Time/Date	Sept. 20, 6:50 p.m. ET
TV	Broadcast: Sportsnet, Sportsnet+

Betting Toronto Blue Jays (73-80 SU, 80-73 ATS, 78-71-4 o/u)

The Blue Jays received some bad news prior to Thursday’s tilt with the Rangers, as shortstop Bo Bichette is done for the season after fracturing a finger. Bichette had just returned from a lengthy two-month stay on the injured list due to a calf problem. Bichette suffered through the worst big-league season of his career, posting a .225/.277/.322 slash line with four homers in 80 games.

Guerrero Jr. appears to be heating up again, collecting six hits in 13 at-bats against Texas earlier this week. He now has 30 home runs on the season and is sitting at 99 RBIs entering play Friday. His .322 batting average is the second highest in the majors behind Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. (.331).

Betting Tampa Bay Rays (75-78 SU, 84-69 ATS, 67-81-5 o/u)

Entering play five games back of the final Wild Card spot in the American League, the Rays are pretty much just playing for pride, like the Blue Jays, down the stretch.

They’ve been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball this season, averaging 3.8 runs per game on 7.7 hits. However, bettors should take note that this team loves to tear up the basepaths, recording 177 steals (fourth in the majors) to this point in the season. Jose Caballero leads the team, and the AL, with 44 steals, and the Rays have six other players on the roster with double digits in steals.

The Rays hold a 6-4 straight-up edge in the season series, and the over is 6-4 in those contests.

Probable starting pitchers

Toronto: RHP Jose Berrios (16-9, 3.44 ERA, 7.02 K/9, 1.12 WHIP)

Berrios is on a really good run right now, holding the opposition to two earned runs or less in seven straight starts. He threw seven innings of one-run ball last time he took the hill against the St. Louis Cardinals to notch his seventh consecutive win. The veteran right-hander has excelled at pitching to contact this year, as he’s on pace for a career low in K/9 (7.02).

Tampa Bay: LHP Tyler Alexander (6-5, 5.58 ERA, 7.14 K/9, 1.29 WHIP)

Alexander last pitched in relief six days ago, throwing five innings of four-run ball in a Tampa loss to the Cleveland Guardians. This will be his eighth start of the season, but don’t expect him to pitch too deep into the game. He hasn’t thrown more than 79 pitches in a single outing in the last month, so it likely won’t be long before the bullpen gets involved. The southpaw made a start against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre back in July, and surrendered three earned runs over 7 1/3 innings while striking out four.

Weather

The weather conditions are always pleasant inside the domed confines of Tropicana Field.

MLB betting trends

The under is 7-1 in Tampa Bay’s last eight games.
The Rays have been the second-best team in the majors on the runline this season (84-69 ATS).
The under is 13-7 in Toronto’s last 20 games.

MLB player prop trends

Berrios has recorded 21 outs or more in five of his last seven starts. He’s +145 to record over 18.5 outs.
Brandon Lowe has hit safely in four straight games and 15 of his last 20. He’s -210 to get a hit.
Josh Lowe has struck out at least once in eight straight games. He’s -250 to strike out at least once.
Guerrero Jr. is coming off a two-homer game on Thursday. He’s +425 to go deep and has one home run in 15 career at-bats against Alexander.

Blue Jays vs. Rays predictions

Davis Schneider has two home runs and four RBIs in seven career at-bats against Alexander. He homered in three consecutive games earlier this week, too, so it might be worth backing him at +375 odds to go deep. He can also be had at +140 odds to record over 1.5 total bases, if you don’t want to bank on the homer.
This also seems like a good spot to back Guerrero Jr.’s hot bat. He’s -105 to record over 1.5 total bases and has slashed .382/.488/.676 with three homers against Tampa this season.